7 Tips to Stay Healthy and Balanced While Building a Business

Stay Healthy and Balanced While Building a Business

Starting a business requires consistent dedication and focus to meet your goals. Unfortunately in many cases that means pushing your health and well-being to the side. We can get so caught up living our lives and doing what we ‘have’ to do that we can end up with no energy, losing motivation and burning out.
It’s time to take accountability and make sure you look after yourself to ensure you are getting the most from your new business while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

1 – Eat Properly

Eating properly is the best way to make sure we stay healthy and energised during busy times. We can all be guilty of taking the easy option and choosing the fastest solution and not considering our health and energy levels. Make the effort to source healthy foods, giving you the energy you need to get through the day. Consider making large batches of meals so there is no excuse for getting lazy during the week!

2 – Don’t Skip Sleep

I believe skipping sleep is the worst thing I can do for my productivity, energy and overall enjoyment of my life. ‘Sleep hacking’ is becoming a popular term that claims to allow people to achieve just as much on less sleep. I personally don’t agree with sleep hacking because I know how I feel after one short night’s sleep.
It is important to know what a lack of sleep does to you. Do you get agitated or unproductive? Know your fatigue symptoms to identify when you are getting insufficient sleep. Try to go to bed at the same time each night and make sure you are relaxed to give yourself every chance of a good night’s sleep

3 – Exercise

Exercise is the best way to press your reset button. Not only does exercise get you away from your work but also it allows you to get moving and keep healthy.
We often get so busy saying ‘I don’t have a spare hour to go to the gym or for a walk’ but often that extra hour allows you to be much more effective and productive with more energy during the day.

4 – Don’t Forget about your Lifestyle

So many business owners forget to take time away from their work and focus on their lifestyle. We tend to get caught up in the wrong mindset, we think ‘if I can just get through this busy time I can have some time off’ – as a business owner, I know this rarely happens.
Schedule time away from your business and try and get a day away from your work each week to revitalize your mind and allow you to prepare for the week ahead. By taking time out for yourself you can manage your busy work life while minimizing the risk of becoming burnt out.

5 – Know Your Important Tasks

By focusing on the tasks you need to do in your business you can often achieve more in your day without getting tied down with ineffective activities. Learn how to prioritize your important tasks and avoid doing time wasting activities that add no values to your business.

6 – Acknowledge you can’t do everything

So many new business owners think they can do everything. This is often at the detriment of their lifestyles. Consider finding a way to affordably outsource some standard tasks to allow yourself to get some time back. I know most people would rather spend a little bit of money to free themselves from working 7 days per week.

7 – Turn off the technology

Be disciplined to remove yourself from technology at a certain time each day. Turn off the phone or laptop before bed to give your mind the opportunity to slow down and relax before you go to sleep.
Going to bed right after work will set yourself up for a restless night’s sleep making you feel tired and unproductive the next day. Becoming disciplined with technology also allows you to finish all your tasks by a certain time each day.

It’s up to you

Finding the time to take care of yourself during high-pressure periods can be difficult, but it is important to prioritize your health to make sure you are achieving everything you can at peak performance.
Make the effort to do the right things for your health during these busy times to avoid burn out and make sure you are getting the most from your life.

Alyce J is an entrepreneur and a consultant for young business minds.

Alyce started her current business at 21, she works full time on her consulting business while venturing into other business models. Alyce shares business tips, resources and inspiration at newstability.com to help 20 something’s become young entrepreneurs.

I would like to add: don’t drink your stress away. I did that and I failed. I have a degree in business economics and looking around me now – with the knowledge I have now – I see that those who do not make it drink a lot of alcohol. Those who do make it have a sober, focussed lifestyle.

Good luck in your new venture. Work out your business and lifestyle goals before your start to make sure they are aligned. This will help you keep your healthy lifestyle aligned with your business activities. All the best.

Building a business requires you to be the best version of yourself – mentally and physically – as much of the time as possible. It’s SO important to find ways to fit in exercise and to care for yourself. We’re getting a lot of snow here in New England, so I’ve been frustrated by all the time spent indoors during storms. With gyms, yoga studios, and the rest of the world closed down 2 days a week for the last MONTH because of snow, it’s really hard to find a way to prioritize health (and cut snacking). Anyway, I shared my two favorite apps to exercise at home on my blog today: http://wp.me/p2wJeb-MT